Pacifism on show: Oliver Robertson finds a way through Moral Maze

‘I hoped to make people at home think.’

by Oliver Robertson 31st March 2023

Things move fast in the media. Late on Monday afternoon, Britain Yearly Meeting got a query about a programme broadcast just two days later. Could the Quakers speak about pacifism on Moral Maze, a hard-hitting debate show on BBC Radio 4?

Of course we had to say yes. What would it say about Quakers if we refused to speak up about the issue for which we’re most known? So it was that I arrived at Broadcasting House on a wet Wednesday evening, papers and nerves in my hand.

The format is straightforward. A moral issue is presented to four regular panellists, then four guests (‘witnesses’ in the programme’s lingo) are quizzed aggressively about their position. The panellists then discuss what they’ve heard. The show usually finishes without a shared view of the ‘right’ answer.

Guests get taken up to a ‘green room’ on the eighth floor, with a radio tuned to the station you’re on. When it’s time for your slot, you’re escorted to the studio. On the production side of the glass, with all the sliders and dials, the conversation booms, but when you step into the actual studio, you can barely hear what’s being said. At that point it’s just people talking at the far end of a big room.

The presenter and panellists crowd shoulder-to-shoulder around a circular table, and the low-tech transfer of guests happens while the presenter is saying ‘Thank you X and welcome Y’ – one person is literally getting out of the seat as the other sits down. Then the presenter is asking you the first question and you’re off.

Like an exam, the build-up was worse than the actual event. I was very aware that my aim shouldn’t be to change the panellists’ minds. Instead, I hoped to make people at home think, and help them realise that pacifism means more than doing nothing when everyone else is fighting. I particularly wanted to explain how nonviolence seeks to change relationships rather than force compliance, and that there’s work to be done after the fighting finishes.

One surprise was the difference that being there in person makes. My questioners’ body language was very different – and much more welcoming – than their words. Little nods and half-smiles encouraged me to continue speaking and to expand my points (which was good, because I only got one chance to make them). It’s probably no coincidence that the two guests who performed best were the ones there in person rather than down the line.

‘Enjoy it’, said the producer. ‘It’ll be over before you know it.’ And it was. The seven minutes of questioning went by much quicker than any of my practice sessions. I returned to the green room, half listening to the rest of the show and half just sitting there, decompressing. The programme finished, we were escorted out and I was done, back on the London streets and travelling giddily towards home.

Oliver is head of worship and witness at BYM. You can listen to the show at http://bbc.in/3K1i3TG.

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